THE COLONIST. NELSON, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1863. THE NATIVE WAR.

Colonist, Volume VI, Issue 623, 13 October 1863, Page 4

THE COLONIST. NELSON, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1863. THE NATIVE WAR.

Our other columns contain a carefully compiled summary of the general events of the month. It is therefore only necessary'here to add a few additional particulars respecting the progress of the native war. Little that can be termed action has yet taken place — only a few skirmishes, in which the natives have invariably had the worse of the engagement. Our soldiers, both at Taranalri and at Auckland, are taking a leaf out of the Maoris' book, and showing themselves active at bush warfare, and in meeting by counter ambuscades the cunning of stealthy foes who lie in wait for unarmed men and shoot them down. Our soldiers are becoming keen and wary, and are not so apt as in former wars to be drawn into ambuscades. If little that can be called active movement is going on, it is rapidly approaching; for there is being concentrated at Auckland a force which, with gunboats, Armstrong guns, and thousands of soldiers, volunteers, and militiamen, ought to be overwhelming, and speedily end the war, now that the dry weather of a New Zealand mid spring time has been enteredon. Thejjowerfulcupolagunboat has arrived at Auckland, somewhat injured through coming in contact with the war steamer Eclipse, which towed her down from Sydney. She was making a little water but the damage is deemed trifling and easily remedied. The powerful frigate Curacjoa, with strong armament and a detachment of troops has also reached Auckland. The last instalment of volunteers from Mel_hojirniL_hM_Lamved. and altogether the

have furnished about 2000 meu. Tasmania, and Otago, Avith the other New Zealand provinces, will supply fully half as many more. Additional troops are coming from England, —two regiments of European soldiers, and drafts to make up the full strength of the regiments now serving in New Zealand. It has been resolved not to send out Sikh regiments. Intelligence of that fact has been received by Mr. Domett, the extra regiment of English soldiers and the complement drafts being sent in lieu of the Indian troops. There were always doubts of the propriety of employing the Sikh soldiers. Granting that their quasi-savage nature and habits would better fit them for bush fighting than the training of our own soloiers fit them for such unused warfare, there is something of the prestige of the European at stake if he cannot alone conquer the over-contemned Maori. Bringing a colored race into the field against the rebels here would be held as equivalent to the admission that the white man was unfitted to cope with the dark skin. This notion is even now too common among some of the rebel chiefs and their followers, and the astute New Zealander would at once take the benefit of this act, and more than ever vaunt of native superiority. In this there mighthereafter have arisen another casus belli. The Home Government therefore in declining to send Sikh reinforcements have acted wisely. The Maori has to be subjugated, but to be effectual his subjugation must be effected by the British bayonet, wielded by British arms. By next mail we expect to be enabled to report something decisive. Before that time comes our strong forces will be in full fighting condition, and the strength of some of the native pas will have been tested. In addition to the strong pa called the Meremere situated well up the Waikato river, another and much stronger one has just been erected near the mouth of the river which falls into Waiheke Sound This pa has, Aye are informed, been constructed with great skill, exhibiting a knowledge of engineering that would not be discreditable 'to men acquainted with the rules that apply to fortifications in modern civilised warfare. The pa has been examined by some of the military authorities, and we are told that in their opinion, if well defended by the natives, it would require a force numbering about a couple of thousand men to capture it. Next mail for England will, we hope, bear intelligence of its reduction, and of further exploits which shall shorten the war; for the powerful armament at the command of the Governor and General Cameron cannot much longer remain idle.

I The Phoebe, from Wellington, en route to Auckland, now due, has not yet been signalled as we go to press. Wbeok of a Schooner and Assistance of the Crew by the Maoris.—The Southern Cross states that the Salcoinbe Castle, schooner, James, master, from Lyttelton 12th September, was wrecked on the 16th September at Kaipara Heads. She passed through Taranaki Roads on Monday afternoon, sighted Mount Egniont on Tuesday morning, and on Wednesday met a heavy gale, Monganui Bluff bearing N.W.^N. about five mile 3 distant. That afternoon, got into broken waters, could not work off the land,' and struck hard abaft about 5 o'clock, when the captain ran her on the beach, the sea breaking over the vessel. The captain and crew, after being sixteen hours on the wreck, received great assistance from a number of Maoris. On the Saturday 23 of them visited the wreck, but none attempted to pilfer anything. The I.R.M. Co.'s steamship Airedale left the Bluff at five, p.m., on the sth, and arrived at Port Chalmers twelve hours afterwards; left that port at five p,m. on the ?th, and arrived at Lyttelton at 4 p.m. on the Bth; left Lyttelton at 1 p.m., on the j 10th, and arrived here on Sunday, at 6 p.m. The Airedale transhipped her Wellington and Auckland passengers, of whom 123 were volunteers for Auckland, into the Phoebe, at Lyttelton. The Airedale brings the following passengers: —Saloon : Messrs. W. Duncan, W. Field, A. H. Brown, Barr, Travers, Mrs. and Miss Travers, and 5 for Sydney. Second cabin: Messrs. Keating, Churchman, Bradley, Adie, Sutherland, James, Mr. and Mrs. Mayo, and 23 for Sydney. We understand that the General Government have sent a gratuity of £50 to the Maoris, Martin, Julia, and Eobert, in acknowledgment of their courageous intrepidity in rescuing the crew of the brigantiue Delaware, wrecked at Wakapuaka last month. New Zealand Comission or the Peace.—Nelson Justices.—A General Government Gazette of 24th ult. contains a Commission of the Peace for the Colony, just issued by his Excellency the Governor. The following are the names of the Justices belonging to this Province. Those marked * are resident in or near Nelson city:—*Wm. Adams, Wairau; * John Blackett; *Thos. Brunner; *Samuel Athanasius Cusack; Jas. Dodds, Amuri; George Duppa; Jas. Eoger Dutton, Motueka; *John Danforth Greenwood ; John Greenwood, jun., Motueka; *David Monvo ; Jas. Mackay, Suburban North; Jas. Mackay, jun., Massacre Bay; *Eichard Kindersly Newcome; * John Poynter, R.M.; *Thos. Renwick; *Andrew Jas. Richmond ; *James Crowe Richmond; *Hon. Matthew Richmond ; *John Perry Robinson, Superintendent; *David Rough; George Rutherford, Amuri; AlfredSaunders, Waimea; *Donald Sinclair; ♦Edward Win. Stafford ; *John Tinline ; Henry Edward Tnckey; H. W. Turnell, Collingwood ; *Benj. : Walmsley; *Wm. Wells ; Jas. B. Wemyss ; W. B. Wright, Motueka. - Canterbury Expeditions to the West Coast. — The schooner Fawn, chartered for the West Coast, at Lyttelton by Mr. Bain, Government Surveyor in the Province of Canterbury, put into Nelson on Sunday to obtain a new mainmast, having sprung her present one in a heavy sea. The Fawn is to proceed to Jackson's Bay, on the West Coast of Canterbury with Mr. Bain and a party of assistants for purposes of surveying. She also has on board stores for Dr. Hector, for whom she will make search. Dr. Hector, with his exploring party, has now been gone fully four months. It was expected at the outset that Ms expedition would last five months 5 but meanwhile word was received at Canterbury that the Doctor had broken one of his arms. This would, it was feared, considerably deter his explorations, and part of Mr. Bain's mission is to discover and supply Dr. Hector's party with necessaries. By other advices we learn that despatches had been received at Canterbmy, announcing that a strict search had been made at Lake Brunner for the bodies of Mr. Howitt and his two companions who were drowned in the Lake as described in our columns some weeks ago in an interesting narrative by James Hammett, the survivor of the party. No trace of the bodio3 was found ;. a piece of calico, known to belong to Mr. Howitt, was the only thing discovered. Another Canterbury surveyor,

schooner Gipsy of Nelson to survey the coast between tlie Grey, which divides Nelson from Canterbury and Albert Head in the latter province. The Gipsy, as we have already reported, was wrecked at the Grey mouth on the Nelson side, while entering the river, being taken in a sudden squall that as suddenly died away, while at the same time a heavy sea was running. "There was," says Mr. Dobson, " such a sea running that if we had struck the spit, not a man would have been saved; but by going on to the main land, as soon as the boat had hardened on well we were able to jump ashore from the bowsprit." The Gipsy is not at all damaged, but there would be difficulty in getting her off. Mr. Dobson not unnaturally after this disaster, draws a not very promising picture of the mouth of the Grey; but that of the Teramakau is much more gloomy: "On 11th Sept. (he says) we lay off and on at the Teremakau, to see what the bar was like. It is a very difficult place for a stranger to make out—there is hardly any gap or gorge visible from, seaward. "We only made it out by seeing the surf breaking there, still more heavily than it did on either side, and as all we could see in the shape of an entrance was half a mile of foam, we considered it was not advisable to attempt to enter." !